College Consumers Are Worth Courting [Infographic]

College students aren’t quite as broke as they’d like you to think. In fact, the average college student has $7500 in discretionary spending money each year. This has to cover expenses like food, transportation, personal care products, and clothing, but it also includes spending on entertainment, makeup, and cell phones. They may be spending only a tiny amount on these items, but they are spending and they are fiercely brand loyal. Companies looking to increase their market share should target marketing at college students. Once brand loyalty is secured, they will graduate and have a lot more discretionary spending money. They will be a lot more likely to spend money on your products once they have developed customer loyalty.

It’s important to note that college students are much more interested in word of mouth recommendations for products than they are in advertising or going to a store to check it out. This actually helps to build brand loyalty. Check out this infographic for more facts and figures about the spending habits of college students.

Brian Wallace is the Founder and President of NowSourcing, an industry leading infographic design agency , based in Louisville, KY and Cincinnati, OH which works with companies that range from startups to Fortune 500s. Brian also runs #LinkedInLocal events nationwide, hosts the Next Action Podcast, and has been named a Google Small Business Advisor for 2016-2018. Follow Brian Wallace on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.